An Ethiopian court today sentenced co-pilot Hailemedhin Abera to 19 years in prison for hijacking a plane bound for Rome and taking it to Geneva.
	The court said Monday it had issued a public notice for the 31-year-old to appear in court but he failed to show up. Hailemedhin is in Switzerland, his brother Endalamaw Abera said.
	At the time of the hijacking, Hailemedhin's uncle Alemu Asmamaw told The Associated Press in a telephone interview that the pilot was in emotional distress following the sudden death of another uncle.
	On February 14 last year Hailemedhin, who had worked for Ethiopian Airlines for five years, locked the pilot of a Rome-bound flight out of the cockpit and then as co-pilot diverted the plane to Geneva, where he used a rope to lower himself out of a window and then asked for political asylum.
	The jetliner carrying 200 passengers and crew took off from the Ethiopian capital, Addis Ababa.

Ethiopian court jails pilot for 19 years for hijacking plane

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Nearly 650,000 Syrians are living in besieged communities in the country's civil war, more than three times the UN estimate, says a new report that offers a graphic account of hundreds of deaths in areas the world has struggled for years to reach.
	The report says Syria's government is responsible for the overwhelming amount of siege tactics that have led to deaths by starvation, dehydration and the lack of medical care.
	The document does not look at what it calls the short-term siege tactics used by the Islamic State group, which has beheaded and massacred its opponents in the vast area straddling the Syria-Iraq border currently under its control.
	The "Slow Death" report, obtained in advance by The Associated Press, is by the Syrian American Medical Society, which supports medical workers in besieged areas. The organization presented its findings yesterday to UN officials and to a closed-door meeting sponsored by the United States, Britain, France and other states and organized by .

Report says 640,200 Syrians in besieged areas

The idea is colossal: building an eco-friendly city the size of Singapore in the desert outside Cairo, a sleek new capital fit for the 21st century where a diverse slice of society will live in harmony.
	Of the projects unveiled at the corporate jamboree that was Egypt's economic conference last weekend, "The Capital Cairo" is the biggest and least transparent endeavor, the latest mega-project ordered by President Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi to kick-start an ailing economy.
	There will be leafy mixed-use neighborhoods, housing for up to 7 million people, 2,000 schools, shopping malls, solar energy farms, efficient public transport, skyscrapers, a million new jobs and even a central park more than twice the size of New York City's.
	It's everything missing from Egypt today with a price tag of up to USD 80 billion.
	For urban planners, the project described as "a dream of what could become reality" is a mystery, hastily conceived with no concrete information on funding. Questions stick out ...

Egypt, Emirati developers tout nebulous plan for new capital

A J Pero, the drummer for the heavy-metal band Twisted Sister, died today. He was 55.
	The band said Anthony Jude Pero died of an apparent heart attack while touring with Adrenaline Mob, a group with which he played in between engagements with Twisted Sister.
	Twisted Sister guitarist Jay Jay French said Pero was on a tour bus today morning when Adrenaline Mob band members tried unsuccessfully to awaken him, then called an ambulance. He was taken to a hospital in Poughkeepsie, New York, where he was declared dead shortly after 11 AM.
	"His drive was the heart and soul of the band's sound, the engine that drove us," French said. "We lost a friend and a legend."
	Twisted Sister singer Dee Snider called Pero "the final piece in a band that would become an international sensation and one of the greatest live rock acts to ever hit the stage.

Twisted Sister drummer dies of apparent heart attack at 55

Former rap music mogul Marion "Suge" Knight collapsed in a courtroom today shortly after a judge ordered him held on USD 25 million bail in a murder case.
	Bailiffs cleared the courtroom and paramedics were seen going inside a few minutes later.
	Defense attorney Matthew Fletcher said Knight was unconscious when the lawyer left the courtroom and an update on his condition was not immediately available.
	Fletcher said his client, who is diabetic and has a blood clot, previously told him that he hadn't received any medication since yesterday.
	Fletcher said Knight hit his head on a chair when he fell after the bail hearing.
	Knight collapsed while deputies were bringing him back into the courtroom after Fletcher asked a judge to order that Knight be given his medication.
	The attorney said Knight was being kept in solitary confinement without proper access to medication.
	"He's being treated worse than Charles Manson," Fletcher said.
	The collapse marked the fourth time that Knight has .

Former rap mogul collapses in court after bail hearing

Israeli Arabs emerged from this week's parliament election with more political clout but also a greater sense of exclusion, after Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu rallied his supporters by suggesting a high turnout of Arab voters would put his rule in danger.
	The election, in which Netanyahu eventually secured his fourth term, highlighted the fraught relationship between Israel's Arab citizens and the Jewish state.
	Arabs voted in larger numbers than before and turned the main party representing them, the Joint List, into the third-largest in parliament, signaling they are more willing to work within the political system to seek equality.
	But some also said the campaign, which has polarized Israeli society, reflected an increasingly hostile atmosphere toward Arabs.
	"I felt like someone stuck a knife in my heart because I am always pushing for equality between Arabs and Jews," Zuhair Bahloul, a veteran Arab sportscaster known for his pitch- perfect game commentary in Hebrew, said ..

Israeli Arabs say they feel more excluded after election

The leader of the US House of Representatives, Speaker John Boehner, is heading to Israel as already strained relations between the White House and newly re-elected Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu hit a new low this week.
	On the surface, the Republican leader's announcement today that he'll visit Israel looks like a jab at the White House.
	But a congressional aide, who spoke on condition of anonymity because he wasn't authorized to publicly disclose details of the trip, insisted that Boehner's trip during the two-week congressional recess that begins March 30 was planned before new rifts developed over Netanyahu's address to Congress and the Prime Minister's remarks this week about the peace process.
	President Barack Obama bristled when Boehner invited Netanyahu to address US lawmakers earlier this month about his fears that an emerging nuclear agreement would pave Iran's path to nuclear weapons.
	Relations took another hit Monday when Netanyahu made hard-line statements .

Boehner off to Israel; Netanyahu's ties to Obama hit new low

Rome has hosted a first meeting to combat the Islamic State group's funding and other financial resources.
	The two-day meeting was co-chaired by the United States, Saudi Arabia and Italy.
	It ended today with an action plan that the Italian foreign ministry said aimed to "to drain the sources of income, capacity to transfer funds and, more in general, the economic stability" of the group.
	A US Treasury Department statement said key steps include cracking down on unregulated money remitters and countering the Islamic State group's exploitation of cash, oil, cultural property and other resources.
	The Islamic State group has taken control of parts of Syria and Iraq, and some extremists based in other countries are affiliated or sympathetic to it.

Italy hosts meeting to combat Islamic State group financing

Court papers show that the children of the comedian who was killed in the crash that injured Tracy Morgan won a USD 10 million settlement from Wal-Mart.
	The amount was disclosed in documents filed in New York's Westchester County, where comedian James McNair lived until the June 7 accident.
	McNair died when a Wal-Mart truck hit a van carrying him, Morgan and others.
	Morgan's lawyer says the "Saturday Night Live" and "30 Rock" star suffered a traumatic brain injury.
	The McNair family lawyer announced a settlement in January, but the amount was said to be confidential. However, he disclosed the USD 10 million figure in court papers supporting his request for nearly USD 3 million in legal fees. Calls to Wal-Mart were not immediately returned.

Children comedian killed in crash get USD 10 mln from Wal-Mart

A British judge has barred five teenage girls from traveling after they showed an interest in going to Syria.
	High Court judge Anthony Hayden made the 15- and 16-year-olds wards of court, which prevents them from leaving England and Wales. He also ordered their passports removed.
	The judge said today that the measures were "draconian," but added, "sometimes the law has to intervene to protect these young people, ultimately from themselves."
	Authorities are making increasingly strenuous efforts to stop young Britons, including boys and girls as young as 15, trying to reach areas of Syria controlled by Islamic State militants.
	This week, the same judge banned a 16-year-old boy from traveling to stop him from following his three brothers to fight in Syria. Two of them died there.

UK court bars 5 girls from travel over Syria fears

The Obama administration said today it is requiring companies that drill for oil and natural gas on US government lands to disclose chemicals used in hydraulic fracturing operations.
	A rule to take effect in June also updates requirements for well construction and disposal of water and other fluids used in fracking, a drilling method that has prompted a boom in natural gas production.
	The rule has been under consideration for more than three years, drawing criticism from the oil and gas industry and environmental groups.
	The industry fears the regulation could hinder the drilling boom, while some environmental groups worry that it could allow unsafe drilling techniques to pollute groundwater.
	The final rule hews closely to a draft that has been lingering since the Obama administration proposed it in May 2013. The rule relies on an online database used by at least 16 states to track the chemicals used in fracking operations.
	Interior Secretary Sally Jewell said the rule will allow 

Obama administration tightens rules for chemical disclosure

A North Korean envoy says his country has developed nuclear missiles and is prepared to use them at any time.
	North Korean Ambassador to Britain Hyun Hak Bong said in a recent interview with British broadcaster Sky News that his government would use the missiles in response to a nuclear attack by the United States.
	Asked whether North Korea has the ability now to launch a nuclear missile, Hyun replied, "Any time. Any time. Yes." "If the United States strike us we should strike back," he said.
	Asked if North Korea would only fire nuclear missiles in retaliation, Hyun replied, "We are a peace-loving people you know. We don't want war but we are not afraid of war. This is our policy of the government."
	North Korea is thought to have a handful of crude nuclear bombs and has conducted three nuclear tests since 2006. But experts are divided on how far it has come in developing the technology needed to miniaturize warheads so they can be placed on missiles.
	The Washington-based ...

North Korean envoy says his country has nuclear missiles

Italy's infrastructure minister resigned today, days after the arrest of a former top official in a corruption probe of some of the nation's major public works projects.
	Minister Maurizio Lupi told Parliament he was stepping down even though he is not under investigation. He denies any wrongdoing. No replacement for Lupi was immediately named.
	Four people, including the ex-ministry official who oversaw infrastructure projects under seven governments, have been arrested.
	Prosecutors are investigating construction contracts involving some of Italy's most ambitious projects, including stretches of a high-speed train line, the Italian pavilion for the world's fair that opens soon in Milan and Rome's subway expansion.
	Premier Matteo Renzi's government has been plagued by coalition bickering almost from its inception last year but Renzi dismissed any notion Lupi's departure would hurt his government.
	There will be "no consequence of a political nature for the government," Renzi told ...

Italian minister resigns after construction work probe

By early June of last year, the Ebola epidemic in West Africa was the deadliest ever recorded. There weren't enough beds for patients and many were refusing to seek treatment, driving the outbreak underground.
	Senior staffers in Africa at the World Health Organization raised the prospect of declaring an international emergency. The answer from WHO's Geneva headquarters: Wait.
	According to internal emails and documents obtained by The Associated Press, the UN health agency resisted sounding the international alarm until August, a two-month delay that some argue may have cost lives.
	More than 10,000 are believed to have been killed by the virus since WHO announced the outbreak a year ago.
	WHO has acknowledged acting too slowly to control the Ebola epidemic. In its defense, the agency says the virus' spread was unprecedented and blames factors including lack of resources and intelligence from the field.
	Internal documents obtained by AP, however, show WHO's top leaders were informed 

Emails: UN health agency resisted declaring Ebola emergency

The two gunmen who killed 21 people at a museum in Tunis trained in neighbouring Libya before carrying out the deadly attack and were known to authorities, Tunisian security officials said today.
	The attack at the National Bardo Museum Wednesday has raised concerns about the spread of extremism in North Africa and particularly in Tunisia -- the only country to emerge from the 2011 Arab Spring uprisings with a functioning democracy.
	In the country's capital Tunis, hundreds citizens today thronged the main avenue where demonstrators overthrew dictator Zine El Abidine Ben Ali four years ago, celebrating independence day in defiance of the attacks that left 17 cruise ship tourists dead.
	Some danced draped in Tunisian flags and others held aloft hand-written signs that read "JeSuisBardo" for "I am Bardo," a slogan that has captured attention as an anti-terrorism rallying cry on social media.
	"We are here to say 'no' to terrorism," said Astal Marwen, a 19-year-old political science and .

Officials: Tunisian gunmen trained in Libya, known to police

The European Union committed 2 billion euros (USD 2.15 billion) today to help Athens deal with what even EU leaders now call the "humanitarian crisis" hitting Greeks in the wake of the financial crisis that left the nation on the brink of bankruptcy.
	EU Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker said the funds will not be linked to international loans keeping Greece afloat but will instead be used as aid for people and companies hit hardest by the crisis.
	Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras praised the decision. "It is a good sign," he said. "It was recognized that there is a humanitarian crisis in our country and that there must be a common effort against it because it was the not the result of some natural catastrophe."
	The pledge came hours after the EU leaders told Tsipras to come up "in the next days" with a raft of budget cuts and tax increases to improve his balance sheet before he gets more bailout money from Europe.
	Tsipras, however, refused to commit to a date of delivery, 

EU commits USD 2.15 billion to help Greek poor deal

A person familiar with the case said that the US Justice Department is formally investigating whether a congressman, who has submitted his resignation, committed crimes with his office expenditures and business dealings.
	The government is convening a federal jury in his home state of Illinois, this source tells The Associated Press, and the FBI has started issuing subpoenas to compel people close to the Republican Rep. Aaron Schock to testify. The source spoke only on grounds of anonymity because the person wasn't authorised to publicly discuss the case.
	Schock, a rising star in the party, abruptly resigned earlier this week following a monthlong cascade of revelations about his business deals and lavish spending on everything from overseas travel to office decor in the style of "Downton Abbey.

Source: Resigning US lawmaker under investigation by Justice

Two men suspected of helping the gunman who killed two people in attacks in Copenhagen last month were jailed today until next Thursday.
	Prosecutor Stig Fleischer said the pair would re-appear before a judge next week for an extension of their detention at the same time as three other men who also are suspected of aiding Omar El-Hussein.
	"That way we have them all together," Fleischer said.
	A 30-year-old man is suspected of helping El-Hussein getting rid of the M95 assault rifle he used to kill a bystander outside a free-speech seminar before spraying the entrance with 27 bullets on February 14.
	The suspect was arrested yesterday. Denmark's TV2 said he has "clear relations" to an inner-city immigrant gang in Copenhagen that El-Hussein had ties with.
	A 25-year-old man, arrested earlier today, helped 22-year-old El-Hussein get rid of undisclosed objects that El-Hussein used nine hours later when he attacked Copenhagen's main synagogue and fatally shot a Jewish guard, according to ..

2 more men jailed, suspected of helping Copenhagen gunman

Iran and six world powers broke off nuclear negotiations ahead of schedule today to allow members of the Iranian delegation to attend the funeral of their president's mother, as a senior Russian official suggested that the sides were close to a deal.
	Top Russian negotiator Sergey Ryabkov told The Associated Press that while some disputes remain, negotiators were expected to "finish their main work" before the talks resume next week. He spoke shortly before US Secretary of State John Kerry wrapped up five days of meetings of with Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif.
	The negotiations had been tentatively extended to go into tomorrow. But the Iranian delegation decided to depart for home later today to allow negotiators, including Zarif and Hossein Fereydoon, a brother of Iranian President Hassan Rouhani, to attend the funeral of Rouhani's mother.
	Ryabkov's comments jibe with those of other officials who told the AP earlier that the United States and Iran are drafting ...

Iran nuke talks break, but top Russian official optimistic

A disgraced Scottish prelate who admitted to sexual misdeeds has resigned from his cardinal's post.
	The Vatican said today Pope Francis accepted 77-year-old Keith O'Brien's resignation from "the rights and privileges of a cardinal."
	In 2013, O'Brien resigned as archbishop of St. Andrews and Edinburgh and recused himself from the conclave of cardinals that elected Francis as pontiff two years ago.
	Once Britain's highest-ranking Catholic leader, O'Brien left the archbishop's post after unidentified priests alleged in newspaper reports he acted inappropriately toward them. O'Brien eventually said his sexual conduct had "fallen below the standards" expected of a priest and apologised.
	Although O'Brien stepped down from the archbishop's post, he remained a cardinal until the latest resignation, following what the Vatican said was a "long period of prayer.

Scottish cardinal who admitted to sexual misdeeds resigns

The leader of the US House of Representatives is planning to travel to Israel, a visit that comes as relations between the Obama administration and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu have reached a new low.
	Speaker John Boehner's spokesman Kevin Smith said today that the Republican will visit Israel during the two-week congressional recess that begins March 30. The trip was planned before this week's Israeli election in which Netanyahu won a fourth term.
	Boehner angered administration officials when he invited Netanyahu to deliver a speech to Congress early this month without consulting with the White House. Netanyahu used the speech to criticize the administration's negotiations with Iran on a possible nuclear deal.
	Republicans have been highly critical of President Barack Obama over the deteriorating relationship with Israel.

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